Thursday, September 25, 2014

This is my Part Two Blog of the USA vs The World - ANW 6 Special that aired on Monday, September 15, 2014. For those who are confused when this happened.. it was the Final day (Sunday) of the Las Vegas taping of American Ninja Warrior 6 back in June 15, 2014.

Matt Quotes™ continues.. "This is Stage 4 of Mount Midoriyama. We've never made it that far in competition".. yeah.. someone would like a few words with you...

Southern Californian (born and raised) Kane Kosugi
ケイン・コスギ lost the Final in an epic rain-soaked Sasuke 8. Dude didn't
even speak Japanese until his adult life (after he moved to Japan to find a job). He was a southern California
boy for all of his youth and half of his adult life.

Team USA pumping up for the camera

Current Standings after the First Stage (3 Heats)

Points are worth double so each win in each of the heats is worth 2 points each for a total of 6 points up for grabs on this Stage.

The two guests paid to be here. Stefano from Italy and Sean from Canada.

ANW veteran Tim Shieff, this time representing Great Britain in competition instead of the USA and sorry her face still doesn't move. LOL

That's a lot of red. LOL

Starting list of obstacles for Stage 2 with 1st obstacle of hate (more on that later)

Sasuke fans want this back in Sasuke. LOL

And this one since it's NOT Ghetto Bridge™

2nd obstacle of hate on ANW.

No one wants to see this back in Sasuke.. No one. LOL

Is that plexiglass? Kinda cool lookin'. Still don't like the no time limit thing.. nor the head to head.. (which is why there's no time limit)

Heat One on deck and our first look at Morimoto, Ghisolfi here in ANW. This is Arnold's return (and still not the furthest man.. Several Americans had done that including Travis Allen Schroeder)

At least NBC is saying Sasuke now and didn't say Mount Midoriyama so at
least an ATTEMPT at repairing the damage of combining the results last
year. People are still very confused thanks to them.

Mmmmm.. roll that beautiful pirated video of Sasuke Rising.. NBC has no shame. This is Sasuke 29 folks.. the tournament that NBC refuses to air in the USA.

Plausible! The correct guys are on their seats! LOL

I'll explain the furor first over this obstacle. NBC had it set up and as per courtesy (since USA had a crack at it in competition just the night before), Japan and Europe had 2 tries on it to get a feel for the obstacle.

So RIGHT before Japan was going to get on the obstacle, NBC changed all the ropes and didn't let anyone see it until it was recording time. So this is literally the first time anyone sees the new configuration. IN competition. This doesn't happen in Sasuke. No idea if they do this in ANW or not. (I wouldn't be surprised) Sasuke has a testers showing them every single detail right up until it's competition time. Even if they reset it, they put testers on there to show them how things changed and proving to them it's safe. To change it AFTER the testing .. yeah.. only NBC thinks this is kosher. This affects everyone. However, even more for Japan going first. They all had to watch Yuusuke, trying to compete in this, and then adjust to how he did it. He's not a tester.. he's supposed to be competing.. wtf NBC.

SO he's taking a long time to do this but compared to what we are about to see, and the fact that he has never seen this configuration, this is actually pretty good for testing out the obstacle for everyone else... /facepalm I give him a lot of credit. Seeing what happened and not having the benefit of seeing a tester do it, he did amazingly well.

Kanno crapping a brick right now because this is the first time he sees the new configuration. Whatever he mapped out earlier during the run from the testers though is now null and void.

Anyway, after 20 seconds we are on the Double Salmon Ladder and as expected, he flies through this. Japan has already moved past this in Competition and they are up to the Swap Salmon Ladder.

A little crooked on the transition but since the rungs are closer together he can easily muscle up and finish the obstacle.

On the Unstable Bridge.. wait.. no Morimoto hashtag? or Japan?

Easy clear on the Unstable Bridge

yeah.. this is not a good obstacle for short people..

..as proven.. by that. While others yell that it is possible, it's a feat to jump that far AND high with no run up if you are short. Unlike the Warped Wall where you can do things with proper technique or even do things "again" if that failed. There is no margin of error on a luck based obstacle as this.

And yes the TBS furor when finding out that despite NBC's claims (and signed agreement) that they would agree to scale the obstacles to Sasuke size to level the playing field.. yeah.. that didn't happen. Good job Morimoto though for getting pretty far despite the odds stacked against you.

Random crowd shot™

Yep, very little run up + being short gives you little wiggle room to readjust.

And he got a nice jump but a bit too far being the 2nd shortest competitor in the entire competition.

He did great though getting this far. Just sucks. I would have liked to see the playing field being a bit more level. Height advantage + luck based obstacles kinda suck since very little skill is involved.

Random crowd shot™

Tehehehehe He's okay. I love the universal hand gesture of the "OK" sign. No interpreter needed. It's not like they had one on hand to translate for them anyway.

Up next is the 2nd of the pros hired to be here for some reason. He didn't even know this show existed until his agent called him up and he showed up to Vegas.

Oh she's pretty! Dad admitting he's super doting and very protective of his son. One wishes to have such a supporting family. I like his family a lot. I wish more people were lucky to have been born to parents like that.

Cute fluff piece about him growing up and climbing things. It's such a shame they used a racist Italian thick accented dub voice. We know he's Italian since he doesn't speak English on there.. but to use a voice WITH a thick accent? I'm sorry.. that's racist. Why do that at all? Just sub it and call it a day. Unless NBC altered HIS speech as well? Totally unnecessary for the thick accent for BOTH the Japanese and the Italian. This was on purpose.

Giggles. Stefano losing to Sean in competition.

Dad watching intently as his son sees the 2nd stage of this ninja event for the first time. Seems this is the first time he's in the USA as well. I hope they don't think poorly of us because of NBC.

Quick start through the Rope Maze but gets stuck in the end.

Still gets to the Salmon Ladder slower than Morimoto

Sideways up the first rung .. heh.. check out his hashtag..

.. and out. This is all technique and his ignorance of the show unfortunately was his downfall. This is a classic Sasuke and regular ANW obstacle and he didn't know how to adjust when he went sideways.

And Dad feels it internally.

Random crowd shot™

yeah this is a rookie move. He just panicked as he had no idea what to do from this point.

Unfortunately this is an obstacle you need to know beforehand to complete.

No interview for joo either!

.. sigh.. I can't get angry.. the timer hasn't started yet.. I just don't like showboating.. but it's legal.. Timer hasn't started.. it's legal.. he's doing nothing.. wrong.. twitch.. (oh and yes I heard the story of his epic showboating in ANW6 and the infamous hand over over the first stage button... don't even get me started on that bullsh.....)

Random crowd shot™

he.. quit.. his job.. he's a FATHER and he quit his job? For a television show?? Oooh he must be a Yamada fan. /facepalm

And this isn't timed so he just has to get past an obstacle that he's actually tall enough to just reach out and grab. Yeah we all know how this is going to go. LOL

(Fluff piece) So.. last night (yes.. last night) Brian was here in the 2nd stage.

And he lost a lot of time on the rope maze

And he was so freaked out he was losing time that he rushed and failed the Unstable bridge.

He got cocky because the year before he was the last guy standing in ANW 5.

Accomplices. So .. is she working and he's living off of her? Or his Dad? Or her Dad (Like in Yamada's case)? I don't care when it's single guys throwing their life away and pretending to be bohemian and finding themselves. But, there's an entirely different matter when you have an almost 40 year old FATHER of two young kids who just learned a valuable life lesson. "Kids you can quit being the bread winner and supporting your family, so long as you have a chance at a television show". There's no difference between this and trying to win the lottery.. especially when NBC is involved. GET A JOB!

Now with that out of the way, Brian hasn't really improved. Remember that he also is affected by NBC's random obstacle change. He only had Stefano and Yuusuke to see before this to figure out what route to take.

Random crowd shot™

So.. the time jumps from 25 seconds on the rope dismount.. and then magically the time is 45 seconds when he gets to this?? He took over 20 seconds to walk a couple feet? Damn that NBC edit™ or they didn't show his hand hovering over.. okay okay I'll let that one go.. LOL For the record we, at this stage, are at both Morimoto and Ghisolfi's times... combined.

And this is why we need a timed 2nd stage..

Clears it.. but wow look at that time..

Random crowd shot™

So.. his name has a hashtag.. uhm why?

Random crowd shot™

Geez.. Sasuke competitors would KILL to have over 2 minutes for the 2nd stage.. They jumped for joy just getting 15 seconds back. LOL

Random crowd shot™

So with Brian already clearing the Butterfly wall defeating Morimoto he continues the course to see if he could clear it. Everyone did this last year so it doesn't upset me at all.

God.. almost 3 minutes? 2 competitors could have run in that time frame in Sasuke.

The very noticeable difference height makes on an obstacle. This is what 5'4" vs. 5'11" looks like.

Morimoto had very little hope. I feel bad for him.

Up next in Heat 2.

This is Tim's first time in Stage 2 on ANW.

Also gets hung up on the ropes

about 22 seconds so same as Morimoto and Ghisolfi but unlike Ghisolfi, Tim methodically goes up the ladder. He's not fast on it, but he's methodical and making sure he doesn't do
any mistakes. Even a couple sideways but muscles up nicely to clear the
Salmon Ladder's first side.

Matt freaking out about seeing him skip rungs when jumping across. LOL
The Americans did that in Sasuke before. Still impressive to see
nonetheless.

Akbar Quotes™ because this definitely deserves honorable mention with this gem: "You know... Watching the new Tim Shieff.. I'm ready to go Vegan and I'm not even sure what that means"..

Livewire (his Freerunning name) gets his own hashtag..

LOL This looks strange to me but hey it works! He caught it and is working his way back around to the rope.

Taking time after the Butterfly Wall to get himself ready for the Metal Spin.

Aaaaaannd his foot drags into the water. He's out.

Random crowd shot™

Okay my opinion changed a little bit. THAT was a classy interview. His grip just gave out from the previous obstacles so when he got the chain he had nothing left. And no her forehead still doesn't move. LOL

Up next after the commercials is a working man!

And "Rio" LOL Er.. Plumber now? I lost track.

LOL They used the Sasuke 27 final instead of the Sasuke 30 Final but kept the vignette lens to match all the other footage they stole.

He got lost in the maze. He just couldn't adjust (like Morimoto did) and kept picking the wrong ropes and literally went backwards. If you miss that first transition you can't reach the one further ahead. If you are too short you can't reach it. He's the shortest competitor here. He had no hope. He finally ran out of strength after struggling for a minute and just jumped in the water.

Bad luck, plus poor adjustments when the configuration changed on him, plus being short with a short wingspan and you got this death.

Random crowd shot™

NBC loves Asa. His reactions fit any occasion. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't even in this stage.. just random 3 hour loop of Asa clutching a blanket in shock. LOL

Two years in a row and Ryo couldn't make sense out of ANW's Large 2nd stage.

Another of the Sasuke 27 vets - Travis Rosen トラビス・ローセン even if Matt is erasing from his mind that USA has ever been in Japan with HIM in attendance. C'mon NBC it's okay to say he kicked ass in Sasuke 27 making it to the 2nd stage. Unless it only accentuates how much your 2nd Stage Mount Midoriyama courses suck?
(Edit: Thanks Rider for that correction)

Very cute Fluff piece about him being a stock broker that works from home so he can help raise his family. I already liked him but my opinion shot through the roof with this.

Always been impressed by his consistency. On top of that, doing that at his age is amazing. ANW needs my guys like him. Working man and kick ass Ninja AND nice and not showboating. I swear he's more of a Sasuke guy than ANW!

Huge push gets him halfway through the maze in one go.

Nice clear. Took him about 15 seconds so definitely the fastest out of all of them so far.

Nice smooth run as he's dominated this before in the past and again tonight. He skipped 2 rungs on there on one side.

And then jumped and skipped on the other side.

He has his own hashtag as well.

Dominating the course so far as he also climbs the Butterfly wall on the way around. After he cleared the Butterfly he technically cleared the stage (as his time was faster).

He doesn't know he already won the Heat. He probably thought he had to clear the Metal Spin. Taking a good look before he jumps (this is apparently where he failed the night before in ANW6).

Familycam™

nice clear and change of hashtag!

Going for completion as well.

He would have timed out on Sasuke's 2nd Stage (they only had 110 seconds this time) but this isn't about time. He beat Tim and Ryo so USA gets the 2 points on this heat.
(Thanks Lachlan for the 110 timer)

Replay of that miraculous save at the end of the Metal Spin.

USA up 6 points to 1 to 0 with 1 more heat to go in the 2nd stage

After the commercials is the star invite.

Random crowd shot™
.. Especially since Kanno is supposed to be on the Start-line. LOL

Having the same issues that Ryo did and choosing poorly. Again if you don't have a good first transition, the obstacle is so poorly designed that you have no way of being able to recoup.

And couldn't reach the ropes once he missed the first transition. This is where the height disadvantage is amplified. Someone taller with a longer wingspan can grab the rope that he missed. Someone shorter.. yeah.. you see what happens.

Random crowd shot™

Random crowd shot™

Hanging on longer than Ryo but duplicating the same mistake, he hangs on until his arms give out.

Finally after a minute and a half he falls off the rope he couldn't transition off.

Random crowd shot™

And unfortunately back to back (to back if you count ASEAN) poor international performances from Kanno. Sadly, I think he hit his plateau and is on his way down.

From one underemployed man to another.. it's Elet dat Hippie

Same pace as Travis through the Maze

But inexplicably slows down..

Ah.. he apparently failed it before so he's slowing down to take his time and not screw up.

Clearing the Unstable Bridge and reaaaally slowing down between obstacles..

Hashtag..

Yeah.. "the Natural" is supposed to have a totally different meaning...

Nice save on the Metal Spin

Even if the timer is a little wonky that's still almost a minute faster than Arnold's excellent adventure..

And an arrogant interview I'm skipping..

Random crowd shot™
Ouch.. did Tim cut himself in the competition? That looks like a fresh wound on his chest.

Random crowd shot™

Final competitor for Stage 2

Taking a moment to sit and visualize the route.

Meanwhile let's establish he trains in France.. but he's still very much Canadian.

You are welcome. ( ^ . ^ )

He moved to France because climbing is not as popular in Canada. At this point in his career, he moved to train with the best at the best venues. He's still Canadian though so no idea why NBC had to suddenly make him French. They were reaaaaaally enamored with using that Euro flag. I did laugh at the bold prediction that Stage 3 looked super easy.

Sean shot out as if by a cannon...

Yeeeeehaw under 10 seconds

Random crowd shot™

Flying through the Salmon Ladder like a pro

nice pace going across as well

on to the Unstable Bridge

That's a new one! Had he not hung on to the front he would have fallen. Nice adjustment!

Random crowd shot™

Squuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeak.. Long live 2 inches! He needed that to grab on to the butterfly.

Butterfly took some time as it slowed him down a bit. Now for the Metal Spin (and yes HE gets his own hashtag)